Dragon and Alchemist
by girl.with.many.faces
Summary: Toshiro Hitsugaya wakes up in a strange world with no memory of how he got there. When he stumbles upon a military conspiracy, he soon realizes that there may be something behind his appearance in this strange world.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or Bleach.**

Toshiro Hitsugaya let out a small groan as his eyes fluttered open. His expression immediately turned to one of confusion as it became blatantly obvious that he was not alone. A grinning man with a dark beard was looking at him with both curiosity and an air of excitement without real cause that Toshiro could only relate to his lieutenant.

"Where am I?" he asked.

The man frowned,

"A foreigner, ey'?" his smile disappeared as though questioning what he should do.

Luckily for him, Toshiro recognised the language instantly but wasn't so sure if he should let this be known. After all it was amazing what one could learn when others assumed that one didn't understand what they were saying. Toshiro sighed and made the quick decision that it would work better in his favour if he could question the man as to where he was and how he got here.

"I can speak English." Toshiro said reluctantly.

The man's grin instantly returned to his face,

"Well that's a relief. My name is Maes Hughes. Mind telling me how exactly you wound up unconscious on my front step?"

Toshiro raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of tone. He had been caught off guard by the cheery aura that Mr Hughes had been emitting that he hadn't even noticed the disciplined posture, the slight movements that could only come of years of battle and the subtle but calculating look in his eyes.

I must really be out of it, he thought to himself.

Toshiro shook his head,

"I don't know." He answered honestly, "The last thing I remember I was…back at home."  
He wasn't going to give him too much information, just enough to satisfy the man. However, this information wasn't of any particular use, nor satisfactory. So Mr Hughes pressed on, the light air around him returning having the opposite effect of what it was supposed to and setting Toshiro more on edge.

"Can you tell me your name? Where you come from?" Hughes asked looking over the boy, frowning internally.

His clothing was odd, in fact it looked more like a style from Xing, though at the same time it was nothing he had ever seen before.

"My name is Toshiro Hitsugaya." Toshiro introduced remembering that given names and family names were said in different order in English speaking countries and it was probably the same here.

"Nice to meet you then Toshiro."

Toshiro bit his lip, disregarding the impulse to scream 'it's Hitsugaya Taichou.' Stupid English customs.

"You still haven't told me where you come from." Hughes said lightly.

Toshiro nodded,

"I come from Juranan."

"Where's that? Is that close to Xing?" he questioned.

Toshiro had absolutely no idea where Xing was and frowned. Was there a place in the world of the living called Xing? He didn't think so and he, being a captain had to have an extensive knowledge of geography in both the soul society and the world of the living. More importantly, he looked down to see that he was still wearing the traditional shinigami uniform and shihakusho. How was Mr Hughes able to see him?  
Toshiro felt a sudden feeling of dread,

"May I see a map? I don't know all the countries names in English I'm afraid but I think I'll be able to recognise the geography if I see it." This seemed like a good lie and lucky for him Hughes appeared to buy it, nodding his head.

"I think I have one somewhere in this room, actually."

He looked around, then opened up the desk drawer beside the bed and pulled out a large looking map.

Toshiro nodded his thanks, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the brown paper in front of him. His heart hammered in his chest but he refused to show it.

Crap.

None of this looked familiar at all.

"What…country am I in?" he asked Hughes.

"Amestris." Hughes said pointing to one of the larger countries.

It was shaped almost like a circle.

Toshiro's eyes moved to the country marked 'Xing' and sighed,

"I come from a small island country." Toshiro said slowly, "It's…not on this map."

Hughes frowned as Toshiro's eyes moved towards the corner of the room where his zanpaktou was leaning against the wall.

"A rather odd thing, seeing a kid wearing a sword on his back." Hughes said carefully.

"Where I'm from everyone wears one." Toshiro said coolly.

Hughes raised an eyebrow at this,

"I've never heard of a society that allows a kid like you to wear a sword wherever he goes."

Toshiro shrugged using all of his self control to not get angry at the 'kid' comment. He knew that this wouldn't be a satisfactory answer as Hughes's eyes narrowed. If he wasn't careful then this man might just end up reporting him to the authorities or something. He wasn't sure yet if everyone could see him or if it was just Hughes but he didn't want to risk the possibility that he could get into some serious trouble if he didn't comply.

He let out a sigh and figured it probably wouldn't hurt if he let him have a little bit of information.

"The truth is that I come from a very militaristic society, thus the necessity to carry a weapon. I suppose you've suspected this already." It wasn't a question.

Hughes raised an eyebrow.

"You have the air of a soldier, no matter how hard you try to hide it."

Hughes let a small smile grow across his face and rubbed the back of his neck,

"That obvious, huh?"

"Out of curiosity…it would have been more convenient for you to simply turn me over to the authorities."

"Well, to be honest with you I don't have much faith in the military at the moment."

"You're apart of the military then?" Toshiro pressed.

"Yup." He nodded, "Plus I couldn't just dump you somewhere else, what would my wife say?" his grin grew wider, giving Toshiro the feeling that this man was probably a dotting husband. God help his kids if he had any.

As though on cue a small voice entered the room.

"Daddy?"

"Alicia!" Hughes sprung forwards momentarily surprising Toshiro as he embraced the small girl.

Figures, he thought as he rubbed his stubble against her cheek.

"Daddy, you're beard is itchy!" she giggled.

"Oh, Toshiro, this is my darling daughter, Alicia, isn't she just adorable!?" he no longer had a hint of the hardened soldier air about him.

"Um…sure." He shrugged.

Alicia looked at Toshiro with curiosity in her childish gaze. She walked over to him and smiled brightly,

"Big brother Toshiro, will you play with me?"

Toshiro was a little surprised by the request,

"I…"  
"Of course he will Alicia!" Hughes cut him off before he could decline.

Toshiro shot him a glare but the other man didn't seem to notice, or he didn't care. He obviously had the inability to say no to the small girl.

"Yay!" the little girl squealed jumping on Toshiro before he could do anything.

Deciding there was no getting out of this he sighed and asked in an unenthused voice,

"What do you want to play?"

"Hmm…" she tapped a finger on her small chin, and then grinned widely, "Hide and go seek!"

Toshiro nodded, noting that the games here were the same as in the living world, not to mention the fact that English was also spoken here.

At least this would give him the chance to look around the house without acting suspicious.

"Fine, do you want to hide?" he suggested.

"Yes!" she grinned.

Toshiro held back a sigh at her enthusiasm,

"I'll…count to thirty, is that enough time?"

Alicia nodded enthusiastically. Toshiro turned away from her and covered his eyes. He started to count.

**Awww, hide and go seek...with Toshiro...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Once again, I don't own anything. Just had this idea in my brain:)**

When Lieutenant Colonel Hughes had discovered the boy slumped against the front door of his house he had thought he was Ishvalan, despite the difference in skin color and the almost Xing like features. When the boy had opened his eyes he had been expecting his eyes to be red, not the startling blue that they were.

Almost like ice, he thought to himself.

He spent the rest of the evening playing games with his daughter though he didn't seem to really be enjoying himself, Hughes was under the impression that the boy found the games to not be as tedious as he had originally thought.

He smiled slightly, it was obvious that the kid had grown up quickly in which case maybe it would be good for him to act his age for, at least a little while.

Hughes gazed lazily up at the ceiling, vaguely reminded of someone else he knew. Speaking of which, he had been informed by Lieutenant Ross that Ed had landed himself in the hospital again.

His dreamy smile turned into a smirk; maybe he'd pay him a visit tomorrow, it would be interesting to have the two boys meet. Then again he did have a lot of work…ah well, he could just dump that all on Sheska.

Toshiro Hitsugaya was not called a genius for nothing. It took him half the night but he managed to finish three different books on Amestris history and recent events. He was surprised to discover a form of science called alchemy. He'd have to do more research on the subject later but at least he had discovered enough to get by if ever a conversation were to come up. He vaguely wondered if perhaps he would be able to pass off his kido for the art or even his shikai or bankai for that matter. He'd have to do more research on the subject to be certain.

He then started to wonder if he could perform this so called alchemy, and if so, could he teach the other shinigami back home?

His mind wandered back to the evening with Hughes and his family. Honestly the man was far too lax. And yet he found himself smiling fondly at the turn of events, thinking that he would definitely get along well with his lieutenant.

His expression soon turned into a scowl. He had attempted to open a senkaimon several times but found himself incapable of doing so. Something was preventing him from leaving. It may even be the same thing that brought him to this strange world.

He was grateful that Hughes let him hang onto Hyorinmaru without a fuss.

He was a little surprised with Hughes's lack of concern over the zanpaktou. It might have something to do with the fact that he was a military man but even so, wouldn't that just make him more reluctant to having him carry around his blade?

Toshiro shook his head; this country didn't make too much sense to him. Just by reading about the country's history had him frowning by how much censorship and prejudice was obviously rampant. And though he came from a militaristic society they still had a voice outside the military to make decisions. Even he understood that a government system run strictly through a militaristic standpoint was due to fail. He'd seen that sort of society before to understand it didn't work.

He found himself lying back onto his bed, he had always been an early riser, and the sun was only just coming up as he contemplated his thoughts.

What should it matter to him anyways. As soon as he could find the opportunity he would go home and all of this would be a memory.

As soon as he had closed his eyes to let himself fall back into some sort of a sleep, the door to his room burst open and he jumped up into a sitting position.

Hughes stood in the doorway to the guest room, the same stupid grin on his face.

"Wakey wakey." The man said.

Toshiro could feel his eyes twitch with annoyance.

"Were you already up?" Hughes wondered, a finger to his chin the same way Alicia had done.

Like father like child, Toshiro guessed. A sense of dread washed over him, he prayed that the girl wouldn't grow up to be _this_ enraging.

"Breakfast is ready. I guess this would be a bit early in comparison to when other people get up." Hughes admitted, "But I work in the military so…well, we all need to wake up at absurd hours."

"It's not too bad." Toshiro shrugged.

He had been wearing some of Hughes's old pyjamas from his childhood for the night.

"Well then, get changed and maybe I'll introduce you to my lovely assistant Sheska today."

Toshiro rolled his eyes at the man's antics, yet discovered to his surprise that he was starting to find the attitude almost comforting.

He was growing too soft…

Central military base was very…well there weren't really any words to describe it. It was disciplined, maybe even more so that the Gotei thirteen. Hughes was very specific in explaining where Toshiro was aloud to go and where he wasn't aloud to go. Through most of his time, however he found himself sitting in Hughes's office while the man blabbered on and on about his daughter to some man named 'Roy' (Whom he found himself holding a great deal of respect towards for putting up with the one sided conversation thus far) and watching Sheska sort through the piles of paperwork and files.

Toshiro, though not wanting to admit it, found himself feeling incredibly uncomfortable simply watching.

In a small lapse of curiosity, he picked up one of the sheets of paper that littered the desk. He raised an eyebrow, though in English it wasn't too different from the paperwork he filled out at home. Happy to find something familiar, he grabbed a pen and started filling out some of the forms.

He barely noticed when Hughes put the phone down as he murmured,

"Huh, must be a bad connection…Toshiro, what are you doing?"

Toshiro looked up at him, halfway done the form.

Hughes peered over his shoulder and started reading what he had written and raised an eyebrow,

"Where's the other books needed to fill this out?" he asked.

"I read through them already. I have an eidetic memory." Toshiro explained.

Sheska perked up a moment and Toshiro then realized that he hadn't seen her open up any of the other mandatory books ether.

"Just like Sheska." Hughes said confirming Toshiro's suspicions.

"I did everything correctly, right?" Toshiro said.

Hughes nodded,

"Well isn't that just great, now I have two geniuses working for me!" he let out an annoying laugh.

Sheska smiled slightly at the compliment.

"By the way," Hughes said suddenly sounding sober, "I was thinking, there's someone I'd like you to meet, Toshiro."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow with vague interest, but didn't say anything.

"So, come along with me then." He said grabbing the captain by the back of his collar and dragging him out the door before he could protest.

Toshiro's only thoughts were, 'if we pass anyone in the halls they might mistake this for a kidnapping.'

To the young captain's surprise he found himself being dragged down to a hospital. Were they going to see a doctor? He wondered, puzzled.

Suddenly Hughes turned towards a door and kicked it in.

"Yo Ed, I heard you snuck a girl into your room."

Toshiro ripped himself from the man's grasp, then as though to retain some dignity after being dragged all the way down to the military hospital started fixing his uniform.

"S-she's not my girlfriend!" the boy Toshiro now knew as Ed shouted, "She's my auto-mail mechanic!"

"So you hooked up with your mechanic, eh?"

It was obvious that one of Ed's wounds had opened up. Ed's mental freak-out was suddenly cut off when he took a look at Toshiro.

"Who's the kid?"

Toshiro shot him an icy glare. Ed shrunk back under his glaze.

"It's custom to introduce yourself first."

Ed stubbornly returned the glare after getting over the initial shock. Rolling her eyes, the girl with the blond hair decided it was about time to step in.

"Hello, my name is Winry."

Toshiro scanned her over a moment but she didn't seem bothered by this.

"Toshiro Hitsugaya." He introduced.

Ed's eyes widened comically as he began to stutter,

"I-is that a sword!" he said pointing to the hilt on the small captain's back.

It was then that Winry noticed this as well.

"Very perceptive." Toshiro confirmed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So…are you apart of the military?" Winry wondered.

Toshiro shrugged,

"Not this one."

"So then…you're apart of a different military?" Ed frowned.

Toshiro nodded dismissively.

"So what are you doing here?" Ed pressed.

"An accident. Only Hughes actually knows I'm here."

In other words 'I'd like it if as few people as possible know about my presence here.' Ed translated.

The other two people in the room made themselves known.

"Hello, my name is Maria Ross." The woman with short black hair greeted.

"Denny Brosh." The man standing beside her introduced.

Toshiro nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Hey, that reminds me!" Hughes said suddenly, "It's true I wanted to see you, but I also came here with some news about the Scar incident."

Toshiro was aware of the sudden change in atmosphere. Though tense, Hughes smiled,

"Your body guards are going to be dismissed soon."  
Ed brightened,

"Really?"

"Bodyguards?" Winry interrupted, her face paled, "Just what have you two gotten into while I was gone?"

"It's not really that important." Ed dismissed, though he couldn't meet the girl's gaze.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious as to the reason why Hughes had him meet Ed in the first place. On the other hand, as long as Winry was around he doubted he would get any answers. These people, especially Ed appeared to be quite protective of her. Not that he blamed them. Winry was a civilian, having her be involved would only endanger her.

She puffed out her cheeks,

"You and your brother never tell me anything no matter how nicely I ask." But then her expression changed to one of acceptance as she said, "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, I need to find a place to stay for the night…"  
"You could stay at the military hotel." Ed suggested.

However this idea was immediately shot down.

"I know how about you stay with me!" Hughes declared.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow realizing that this probably meant he'd be sleeping on the couch for the rest of his stay with Hughes.

"But I just met you, a-and I don't want to impose." She stuttered.

"Nonsense, my family would be happy to have you." He smiled grabbing her wrist, "Now that we have that figured out."

He started dragging her away in almost the same way as he had Toshiro who let out a sigh and followed them.

"It was nice meeting you." Toshiro said with no emotion, bowing then following Hughes and his latest victim.


	3. Chapter 3

Hughes dragged Winry and Toshiro all over town for hours buying gifts for his daughter's birthday. Toshiro had only been vaguely aware that there was a party planned for the day.

"Mr Hughes," Winry looked up at the man holding onto a ridiculously large teddy bear, "Why are we buying all these gifts?"

"So glad you asked, today is Alicia's birthday!" Hughes said launching into full blown father mode.

Winry looked at Toshiro questioningly,

"Alicia's his daughter, I believe she's turning three." He said filling in the gaps.

They arrived at the Hughes family house where Gracia and Alicia greeted them.

"Daddy!" Alicia said.

"ALICIA! I missed you so much!" Hughes said rubbing his beard against his daughter's face.

"Daddy stop, it tickles!" the little girl giggled.

Toshiro rolled his eyes at the man's antics but allowed himself a small smirk.

"Hello, Toshiro." Gracia said, her attention turning to Winry, "Who's this?"

Hughes chose that moment to sober up somewhat,

"Remember the Elric brothers I told you about?" he asked her.

Gracia nodded.

"This is their childhood friend, Winry. I told her she could stay here." "Oh but we only have one guest room" Gracia said worriedly.

"I don't mind sleeping on the couch." Toshiro informed.

Winry looked suddenly flustered,

"No, if it's too much trouble I won't impose." "Nonsense, it's no imposition." Gracia informed her.

Winry didn't look reassured.

"Come on." Hughes said smiling slightly, "Trust me, there's no place in the city better then here. I insist."

Winry looked embarrassed but nodded anyways, her attention turned to Alicia,

"I hear today's your birthday, how old are you?" she asked the little girl.

"Tw…" Alicia trailed of, then raised three fingers, "Three!" Winry looked aw struck,

"S-" she stopped, then in unison she and Hues blurted, "SO CUTE!"

Toshiro face palmed, running his hand down his face,

"Please not another Hughes." The side of his lip twitched in annoyance.

After nearly half an hour of trying to avoid social interaction, Toshiro decided to step out a while, feeling very uncomfortable. He never was good with crowds. When the party was over Toshiro walked back inside to find that the couch was already made up and everyone else had wandered off to bed.

Finding his eyes drooping and suppressing a small yawn, Toshiro decided it was about time he went to sleep. He changed into his borrowed pyjamas and folded took his uniform and clothing to the wash. Gracia had given him permission to wash his clothes when he so chose and since the machine was in the basement it wouldn't be waking anyone up on the upper floors.

When the cycle was done he hung up the clothes to dry. It would probably be done in the morning, he decided heading upstairs and immediately falling asleep on the couch.

He was once again up early. As the sun rose he was only slightly surprised to see Winry awake.

"Thank you for letting me stay, Mr and Mrs Hughes." She thanked them.

"Not a problem. Are you sure you want to leave today though?" Gracia asked her.

"Yes, I'll find my own lodgings." Winry smiled.

Toshiro rolled his eyes, knowing full well that the Hughes' wouldn't let her go without a fight.

"Winry," Hughes whined, "If you leave I'll be stuck with Toshiro! Though he's a huge help around the office he so scary whenever you give him a nickname! Not only that but…" his eyes were teary, "He makes me do all my work!" Toshiro felt a vein pulse in his head,

"You should be doing all your work anyways." Toshiro glared.

"See what I mean!" Hughes pouted.

Toshiro let out a sigh,

"You wanted to pick up tickets, Winry?" he asked her.

"Oh, yeah." Winry smiled.

"I'll walk with you."

"Oh, alright." She agreed somewhat reluctant.

"Hold up, how about I come with you too. If I leave you alone the awkward silence will be unbearable."

"Hn." Toshiro grunted non-comically, rolling his eyes.

Winry looked relieved that she had someone to have a conversation with, not that she had anything against Toshiro, just that he was difficult to be around too long. Not to mention that half the time he was glaring at her, then the other half he spent glaring at something else!

She let out a small sigh, this was going to be a long walk.

"So we meet again." Edward glared at the bottle of milk with distaste.

If an onlooker were to walk by and peer into the hospital room they might think that the hatred was mutual.

But that was impossible, right?

"Aw man, what's the big deal with milk anyways!" he suddenly blurted, "I'm not drinking it and that's final!" the blond ponytailed boy turned to look at the suit of armour that sat in the corner of the room, "Do me a favour, Al and drink it for me." He paused, "Well, I guess you can't since you have that body…"

"Brother, you still have most of your real body; you need to take care of it. Just drink it."

The shorter of the two didn't appear to notice the sorrow in his voice.

"I won't drink what I don't like. Besides it's not like I need milk to grow." Ed argued, "Despite what it may seem I am getting taller. You're lucky you have such a **big** body." It was obvious then that he had said something he shouldn't have as the armour stood, enraged, and as the door swung open he shouted,

"I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS DAMN BODY!"

The blond haired girl and short white haired boy stood in the doorway, both shocked but for different reasons.

That suit of armour, the white haired boy thought, nearly gaping, it was radiating spiritual pressure, it wasn't normal. The way it stood, the way it moved, it was all wrong. It was like someone had taken a plus soul and bound it to the metal.

How was that possible?

And then he thought back to the books he had read. Was this alchemy?

His brow furrowed, should he attempt to perform konso on it?

No, the soul was still alive.

"I…" Toshiro was broken out of his thoughts when Ed started speaking, "I'm sorry, Al. You're right, it's my fault."

How was this his fault? Toshiro wondered. Had he taken a person's soul and somehow bound the boy to the armour?

"Is there really any way to get out bodies back?" the armour shouted.

'Our bodies,' Toshiro observed, that meant that something had effected Ed, whom he now assumed to be the older of the two, as well. Though it appeared as though whatever it was effected the younger of the two more so that the older as Ed was missing an arm and a leg. Toshiro shook his head, no; he couldn't assume that the missing limbs were tied to the younger ones missing body, though it did seem to be a safe bet…

"I'll get you back to normal, **believe** me." Ed insisted.

"'Believe you'?" the suit asked infuriated, "What am I supposed to believe in this empty shell of a body!? According to alchemic theory humans are composed of a physical body, mind and soul, but has any of this been proven?"

Toshiro snorted. If it wasn't true than what exactly was he?

"Memories are data when you think about it, possible to reconstruct!"

Toshiro was growing weary, he had a pretty good idea as to where this was going. It appeared that Ed did as well, but he had to ask anyways,

"Where are you going with this, Al?"

"You told me once that you had something you wanted to tell me. Maybe what you really wanted to say was that my memories and soul are fake!" the boy Toshiro assumed was Al declared, "Well big brother, can you prove that a person named Alphonse Elric actually existed!? Isn't it possible that Winry, and Granny, and everyone is lying to me!? Well big brother, what do you have to say!?"

SLAM!

The short blond haired boy banged his fists down on the small table holding his food.

"You were…keeping all of this bottled up this whole time? I see…"

He got up and walked out of the room.

"Idiots." Toshiro said, "First the short idiot, then the damn armour idiot." "W-what did you say!" an angry aura surrounded the short blond haired boy, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MIGET SO SHORT YOU CAN SQUASH LIKE AN ANT!"

Toshiro didn't flinch.

"Who are you calling an idiot!?" the armoured boy shouted, even more enraged.

"You two." Toshiro said in monotone, "After all you'd have to be an idiot if you'd think someone would risk their own life to save something that was fake." Both boys were silent; realization seemed to dawn on the one in armour.

"_I swear the two of you are bigger morons than Ichigo!"_ he ranted in Japanese.

"C-come again?" Al asked weakly.

"You are both bakas!" he gave them both two very cold glares, though not his worst.

If he had they would have both wet themselves.

"I-I…Ed…" Al said wanting to apologize.

But Ed got up and swiftly left the room.

"You…" Winry said darkly, "YOU IDIOT!"

Toshiro let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose, a sudden headache coming on as Winry ranted to the boy.

"Now go find Ed and apologise!" she shouted.

"O-okay…" he said getting up and walking cautiously out of the room.

"What are you waiting for, run!" she yelled.

"Yes m'am!" the armour took off running.

Toshiro scowled and leaned up against the doorframe. Winry and Hughes left to follow Al, while Toshiro just stood there.

"T-that was scary." Lieutenant Ross said, entering the room.

Toshiro only glanced at her wondering what was so scary about that.

"Y-you're really perceptive, you know?" Brosh added, "How did you even know that the two of them had attempted to bring their mother back to life?"

Toshiro only stared at them. He hadn't known that. But this information only solidified in his mind that the two brothers were complete and utter bakas.

"It's obvious." Toshiro decided to say, "When the younger one moved I could hear how hollow his steps sounded."

"So you knew he was empty." Ross completed.

"The rest was just conjecture on my part. I didn't actually know they had tried to bring their mother back from the dead. How idiotic."

"Er…right." Brosh said oddly.


	4. Chapter 4

It was nearly half an hour when the brothers, Winry and Hughes decided to return. As soon as they came into the room Toshiro listened quietly to their rather disturbing conversation.

These people, whoever they were, were using human souls as energy!?

He was disgusted at the very idea. From the small alchemical demonstration that Ed had provided him with Toshiro had observed that alchemy was nearly like kido. It used reatsu to convert objects into other objects though the object something turned into had to be made of equal mass and material. No wonder the philosopher stone was so incredible! It wasn't just using reatsu, but the very essence of a person to transmute an object to go beyond ordinary alchemy! To sum up, Toshiro theorized that it was highly probable that in order to transmute something on the level of a philosopher stone you'd have to destroy a soul.

How disgusting.

"So," Ed said holding up a picture that, from the look in his eye he was actually quite proud of, "This is the guy that kicked me."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow, suddenly reminded of the abominations he had seen Rukia and Kuchiki taichou create.

"Human souls trapped in artificial bodies, human sacrifice…allowing you to live, an individual named 'Envy.'" A rather large man with only a swirl of blond hair on top of his head murmured out loud.

Toshiro only vaguely knew this man as Major Armstrong. He didn't know why but the man annoyed the hell out of him. He kept stealing glances at Toshiro worriedly.

"There something you wish to say?" Toshiro asked him coolly.

"No…it's just that you look almost…Ishvalan."

"Because of my white hair." Toshiro supplied.

Armstrong nodded.

"I'm not Ishvalan. I'm Japanese."

"I thought you said you come from a place called…" Hughes trailed off as though trying to remember.

Toshiro didn't buy that act for a second,

"Jurinan." He supplied coolly.

"Yeah…" Hughes frowned.

"That's my village."

"Oh." The man shrugged

Toshiro suddenly turned around, his senses on high alert.

"Is something wrong Toshiro?" Al asked.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed, something was coming. A soul of some sorts emitting…he scrunched his nose, it almost felt like a hollow's reatsu.

A man wearing an eye patch and gentle grin entered the room. Toshiro's eyes narrowed as his eyes fell on him.

"Furor President King Bradley!" They all shouted in disbelief, all accept Toshiro who only glared.

Great, so this was the country's leader. No wonder the military and political system was so easily corruptible.

"At ease, gentlemen. There's no need to make a fuss." The man said, though his eye trailed over to Toshiro, "And who might this be?"

"I am a friend of Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. He hired me to do some work for him." Toshiro said coldly.

Hughes looked at Toshiro questioningly, but didn't contradict him. He must have realized that the small white haired boy had some sort of reason to be suspicious.

"I see…your features are quite exotic…"

"I come from a small island off the coast of Xing. Even there my features are considered…exotic, as you say." He answered coolly.

"Why are you here, sir?" Hughes interrupted.

"Why am I here? Why to see him of course." He motioned to Ed, presenting the small bag in his hand, "Do you like melon?"

Ed took the bag, confusion obviously present on his face.

"Er, thanks…WAIT, YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"

The furor laughed, though it was cut off immediately as the air turned serious.

"I hear you've been doing quite a bit of snooping into the military command, Major Armstrong."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed slightly, he did not like the reatsu this man was emitting.

"Don't underestimate my information network, Major." The man said.

In other words he was spying on them, Toshiro summarized.

"And you, Edward Elric…How much do you know? A great deal depends on your answer." After a few very long moments of tension the man broke into a grin,

"Just kidding!" he burst into a fit of laughter, "Don't be so uptight."

Toshiro scowled slightly at the man's behaviour.

"I know there's been suspicious activity going on in the military lately and I've been working to do something about it. Hm?" The eye-patched man's attention shifted to a few sheets of paper sitting on the hospital side table, "A list of all the researchers involved with the stone. You've done well to find all these names. But you see the whereabouts of all these individuals is completely unknown." Toshiro raised an eyebrow at this.

"They disappeared a few days before the explosion at laboratory number five." He continued, "The enemy always seems to be one step ahead of us, and even with my information network I have still no idea how far they've infiltrated, nor their goal."

"They're obviously seeking the philosophers stone." Toshiro rolled his eyes, "If you think about it logically, the most likely scenario is that the ones seeking it wish for power…the sort of power that promises godhood. How idiotic."

"Idiotic you say?" The furor raised an eyebrow.

Toshiro only shrugged, gaining some form of childish satisfaction from the angry spike in reatsu.

Suddenly voices exploded through the halls.

"Mr President!" "Has anyone seen President Bradley?"

The furor froze,

"Oh no, my pesky body guards are back." He said, "I slipped out earlier without any of them noticing." And then to everyone's shock, except maybe Toshiro, the president jumped out the window.

"He must of taken a page out of Matsumoto's 'how to escape paperwork' book." The white haired captain grumbled.

And yes, she actually did have a book that went by this title. He had found it accidentally while sorting through the papers she had hidden under the couch once.

Sometimes it seemed his lieutenant went out of her way to make him mad.

Ed looked at him questioningly,

"Who's Mat…Matmoto?" he tried saying.

"Matsumoto." Toshiro growled, "She's a lieutenant in the military back home and she's always trying to dump her work on other people, mainly me!" The door to the hospital room opened, interrupting whatever Ed had been about to say.

"Huh?" Winry wondered walking in, "What's going on?" "Nothing." Ed grumbled.

The blond haired girl just shrugged it off,

"I got those tickets you asked for."

"Wow, thanks." He smiled slightly.

"Where are you going?" Toshiro asked genuinely curious.

"Dublith." He answered.

Only vaguely knowing the geography of this country, Toshiro had to take a look at the map that Ed rolled out onto the table.

"It's right around here, in the middle of the southern region." Al clarified for him.

"WHAT!?" Winry shouted, causing Toshiro to shoot her a cold glare for nearly breaking his eardrums.

"L-look here, before Dublith!" she pointed shakily towards a small town marked 'Rush Valley.'

"Rush Valley the auto-mail engineers' mecca!" she said dreamily, "I've always wanted to go there…Take me, take me, take me!" she begged.

"Go there yourself." The blond haired boy dismissed.

"And who's going to pay my travel expenses!" Winry shot back.

"Y-you're trying to mooch of me!"

"What's the harm, it is on the way." Al interjected.

Knowing that she was going to get her way, the blond haired girl let out a cry,

"Yippee! I'm going to call granny!" she said racing out the door.

Toshiro observed the two brothers a moment,

"May I come as well?" he finally asked.

Both boys seemed shocked by the request.

"Why do you want to come exactly?" Ed frowned.

"Because…I was stranded here not too long ago and I don't know how or why but…I think that the answer might have something to do with what's happening." Toshiro answered slowly, "I'll be looking for clues concerning the stone. It would make the task easier if I traveled with you." Ed looked stunned by this revelation,

"Do you…have any money?"

"I can just ride on the roof." He shrugged.

"That's stealing." Al said, his voice indicating that he was unhappy with this idea.

Ed let out a sigh,

"Fine, I'll pay for him!"

Al looked only somewhat satisfied with this solution.

And so the four of them were at the train station being seen off by their friends.

"Have a nice trip you guys!" Hughes smiled.

Toshiro smirked, honestly, he had only known the man a few days and he had already grown fond of him.

The train jerked forwards as Toshiro looked down at the zanpaktou that lay across his lap.

"So, what exactly is this teacher of yours like?" Winry asked Ed.

Toshiro only vaguely paid any sort of attention.

"She's…" Ed trailed off, a look of pure horror on his face.

"Ed, I'm scared!" Al whimpered.

"Oh god, she's going to kill us!" Ed shivered.

Toshiro looked up at them curiously, now wondering just what sort of person this teacher was.


	5. Chapter 5

"Riots in Reole?" Hughes asked frowning at the newspaper in his hands.

"Yeah," A soldier confirmed, "Apparently there was some sort of cult in the area that were exposed as frauds and the people all turned against each other. I hear everything's under control now… I swear the East is getting all out of control. Well, not just the east, I hear that the north and west have been having their fair share of skirmishes too."

Hughes rose up from his desk, a look of realization and horror crossing his face.

"Where are you going?" the officer asked him as Hughes got up, taking the paper with him.

"The records room." He answered, "I need to check something." When he finally made his way down there, impatiently looking over the facts again and a again, just to confirm his theory. He let out a curse,

"Well well, what do we have here? Who the hell could have thought up something like this?" The door behind him slammed causing him to turn around to face a rather stunning looking woman, of course, not as stunning as his beautiful wife…

Though the one thing that really caught his attention was the tattoo on her chest. The Aura Boris.

"Why hello, Lieutenant Hughes, though I suppose 'hello' isn't the right word." She said, her ruby lips pulled into a malicious smirk.

"Nice tattoo." Hughes said, fear setting in, but not enough to prevent him from secretly drawing his trusty knife.

"You know too much Lieutenant Colonel."

In less than a second her nails extended and Hughes threw his knife.

Hughes walked out of the records room, bleeding exceptionally from a shoulder wound.

"Damn." He groaned, moving slowly down the hall towards the telephones.

"Oh, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, you better not be using the phones to brag about your daughter agai…lieutenant Colonel, you're bleeding!" she cried.

"Doesn't matter her murmured making his way towards the phone and picking it up, only to set it down again.

"F-forget I was here." He said turning back and making his way outside.

"L-lieutenant Colonel, wait!" the woman soldier called after him.

He picked up his pace as soon as he was out of the building, it didn't matter anymore that he was wounded. He had to make sure that someone knew.

He ran into the phone booth nearly a block ahead and started dialling. When someone on the other end picked up he didn't dally,

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, I need you to patch me through to Colonel Mustang."

A pause,

"Are you serious! The code is Uncle-sugar-Oliver then eight zero zero." He heard something behind him click. He knew that sound all too well.

"Please hang up the phone Lieutenant Colonel." It wasn't a request.

He turned around and was stunned a moment,

"Second Lieutenant Ross?"

"Put the phone down sir." The woman repeated.

"No, you're not her. Just who the hell are you, lady?" he demanded.

"You've lost too much blood, sir. I'm Second Lieutenant Ross."

"No you're not." He sneered, not letting himself be fooled, "Ross has a mole under her left eye."

The woman who was not Lieutenant Ross was shocked, but then her face twisted into a horrible smile that seemed quite out of place on her face,

"Oh, my bad, is this better?" she asked with a swish of her hand a mole appeared under her eye.

"What!?" Hughes gasped, "W-what the hell is going on? I must be dreaming."

"Oh this is no dream." The grin never leaving her face.

"Hey hey, give me a break. I've got a wife and kid waiting for me." He drew his knife into his hand, "The last thing I'm going to do is die on them!" He turned around, ready to throw the weapon, only to freeze when he came face to face not with Second Lieutenant Ross but rather with the face of his wife.

"You wouldn't stab your wife would you?" she asked, her voice as sweet as cyanide.

BANG!


	6. Chapter 6

Toshiro had discovered that while most women went crazy of jewellery, the only thing that could get that sort of effect out of Winry was auto-mail.

At least she wasn't as annoying as Matsumoto on her shopping sprees. Not to mention the fact that the technology behind this…auto-mail was actually quite fascinating, he even managed to convince Ed to buy him a book on the subject.

Ed meanwhile, was preying that this book would not create another Winry.

Toshiro watched in boredom as Ed was goaded into an arm wrestling match.

"Baka." He said under his breath.

Even he wasn't that sensitive about his height.

He knew Ed cheated when he won the match, he could see the reatsu moving around the metal arm. He didn't really care, the other guy had been doing the same thing anyway. Winry had something to say about it though. Only to be interrupted when the other engineers that were watching the competition started showing interest in her designs.

Was she really that good? Toshiro wondered.

He then watched in amusement as Ed was forced to strip down to his underwear in the middle of the street.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed and he grabbed a hand that had been trying to make its way into his pocket.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He told the girl who looked at him, her mouth nearly hitting the ground.

"H-how did you…"

Toshiro only smirked,

"You might want to give back that watch you stole too. It holds…sentimental value for the kid over there."

Toshiro was certain of that. Quickly, without her even noticing he used his other hand to snag the watch back as she ripped her arm away and ran.

"Figures." He said rolling his eyes.

"I-it's gone!" Edward suddenly screamed.

Toshiro rolled his eyes. Guess he noticed the watch was missing.

"Oh looks like you're a victim of Paninya." One of the mechanics said, "She's a known pickpocket around here." "Where is she?" Ed asked angrily.

"Well we could tell you…but in exchange…let us have a look at that auto-mail!"

His metal arm immediately changed into a blade.

"She's in the west alley." Ed took off running.

"Wait, Ed!" Toshiro called after him, trying to stop him.

"Shut up, I'm busy!" he said pushing him out of the way.

Al ran after him. Toshiro's eye twitched in annoyance.

Winry ran after them.

Toshiro scowled,

"Best just let them run around a bit and work off that excess energy." He decided.

Besides, if they didn't listen to him it was their fault. He tucked the watch into the sleeve of his uniform where he was satisfied it wouldn't fall out.

Deciding he had some time to kill, he lazily followed after their reatsu trail.

He finally found they huffing and tires somewhere on the desert cliffs.

"Are you guys done chasing her yet?" Toshiro asked them with a raised eyebrow.

"No way in HELL!" Edward declared, running off again.

It was like he had more energy than when he started. Toshiro couldn't imagine where it all came from.

Al ran after him at top speed while Winry sat on the ground winded.

"Those two are idiots." Toshiro grumbled.

"I'm not arguing with you." She huffed.

"What a pointless chase…when do you think he'll realize that girl doesn't have his watch?" Toshiro asked exasperatedly.

Winry looked at him confused,

"What do you mean?"

Toshiro then pulled out the watch from the sleeve of his uniform. Winry's jaw dropped.

"W-wha…you're just letting him run around like that!?" she gasped.

"I tried to tell him but he just took off without letting me say anything." He shrugged.

Winry looked at Toshiro, and then the watch. She then proceeded to burst out laughing.

"T-that's hilarious!"

Toshiro allowed himself a small chuckle to escape,

"Think he'll learn that listening is actually a useful skill?" he asked her.

Winry rolled her eyes,

"Doubt it. How did you even get that anyways?" she asked him curiously

"Paninia tried to pickpocket me and I caught her. I then pick pocketed her to see what she had attempted to steel from Ed." He shrugged.

"You…pick pocketed her? How did you learn to do that?" she asked him.

"One of my," he paused, "Associates is apart of an organization called the 'stealth force.' She taught me a few tricks. Subtle but quick. Same principles apply to thievery and…other things."

Winry opened her mouth as though to ask something, then shut it again deciding that she really, _really_ didn't want to know.

"How are we even going to figure out where those to went anyways?" Winry sighed.

"How do you think I've been following you guys all this time?" Toshiro smirked.

"How, exactly?" she tilted her head to the side, a little uncertain as though the question had just occurred to her.

Toshiro sighed, they were already too far to track down through the normal methods. Deciding that it would be alright to let some of his powers be known he closed his eyes and concentrated his reatsu.

"What are you…" Winry trailed off.

Toshiro opened his eyes as white spirit ribbons appeared around him.

"W-what…are those?" she asked.

"Spirit ribbons." Toshiro explained, "It's a way of tracking people."

"I've never seen anything like it before…is that some sort of alchemy?" Winry wondered, doubt in her voice.

"Sort of, it's based on the same principal. I'm just using the raw energy that alchemists use to activate a transmutation and tracing it." He said emotionlessly as he grabbed Edward's spirit ribbon.

"Got him, he's this way. Should we take our time or stop him before he does something stupid?" he asked the girl.

Winry contemplated this a moment then finally said,

"I think it might be a good idea to…stop him."

Toshiro sighed,

"Get on my back." He ordered.

"But…" Winry trailed of, a blush forming on her cheeks, it was so embarrassing being carried by someone shorter than her.

"Just do it." He sighed exasperatedly.

Not wanting to push the bounds of her companion's temper any further, she got on his back.

He immediately took off running.

"W-wow." She swallowed hard, holding onto him tightly.

He was far faster than she had expected.

"Hold on tightly." He said as he ran towards what Winry thought to be a dead end.

To her surprise, they were suddenly flying in the air as Toshiro jumped up the cliff.

He wasn't even breathing hard, Winry noted with fascination.

They soon found themselves at a rather secluded house nestled in between the cliffs.

"I'm guessing they don't get many visitors." Toshiro muttered dryly.

Winry couldn't help but smile at the boy's attempted humour.

Toshiro knocked on the door.

It swung open after only a moment.

"And who are you two?" and older man asked looking down at Toshiro with what the white haired boy supposed was supposed to be intimidating.

No glare could faze him after having been caught trying to escape the fourth division with an extreme concussion by Unohana taichou. He would have shuddered at the memory only to remember what he had come here for.

"I was wondering if two idiots came in her ranting on about how a pick pocket named Paninia stole his watch?" Toshiro asked coolly.

The man nodded,

"They're inside." He said reluctantly.

"Sorry for letting their little chase get out of hand." He deadpanned.

The man only grunted in response as Winry and Toshiro entered.

"Gah! Let me at her!" Ed shouted tied to a pillar in the house.

Toshiro noted that his arms were being held far apart from each other. He gave both Ed and Al his best, and this time, yes his worst, glare.

"Are you two utter morons." He in his most threatening voice as he approached them.

For added effect the temperature dropped.

"You two just barged in here didn't you without any thought or regard to who you might be disturbing." Ed and Al both attempted to get as far away from the angry teal eyes that wouldn't let up.

"W-we…w-w-well…" Ed sputtered.

Toshiro took out the watch from his sleeve.

"Y-you have the watch!?" Ed gasped, to afraid to make himself sound accusatory.

"I saw her pickpocket you and when she went after me I got your watch back. I tried to tell you earlier but you ignored me and ran off without letting me get in a word." Toshiro said tossing the watch down at his feet, "I swear you're more prone to rush off into a fight without the use of a single brain cell than Zaraki."

"W-who?" Al stammered.

Toshiro only let out a sigh,

"Just…forget it."

"I told you I didn't have it." Paninia said letting her presence be known as she got up from a comfortable sitting position on the floor in the corner of the room, "But how did you get the watch from me?"

"I pick pocketed you." Toshiro said blandly, "Not a skill I necessarily enjoy using."

"B-but I didn't even…" Paninia gasped.

Toshiro only rolled his eyes. Winry had then noticed the tears in her pants revealing the girl's auto-mail legs. She started to squeal, bombarding the poor girl with questions.

Which led to her finding out that the designer of these 'masterpieces' as Winry put it was none other than the older man who had greeted them at the door. Dominic, his name was.

For some reason this all lead to Ed stripping down to his underwear…again.

"Hmm…" Dominic trailed off.

The door to the other room opened and a young couple entered.

Edward blushed with embarrassment when the young woman with a huge stomach asked why there was a naked boy in their living room.

"Wow your stomach, can I feel it?" Winry asked.

The soon to be mother was happy to honour her request.

"The baby's due in about two weeks." The man, obviously the husband said.

"Congratulations." Al suddenly blurted.

"Dominic, please make me your apprentice!" Winry begged.

"No."

But the girl didn't give up.

"What are you still doing here? Scram!" Dominic shouted.

Ed sighed and opened the door only to stop,

"Yeah...about going."

There was no way any of them would be able to leave for a while with the rain. The cliffs around these parts would probably be unstable as well.

Toshiro could easily get out of there on his own, but best not let the others know that.


End file.
